Spring has Sprung by Giulietta Biraghi
Spring is in the air and in my opinion there is no better time to visit Italy than now. Tuscany especially is in its prime at this time of year. Sometimes the difficulty and bureaucracy of living in Italy can overpower the beauty of all the art and history but whatever woes the winter months may have brought, April and May can dispel in a breath. All those picture perfect postcards you see of the Tuscan countryside with flowers in bloom and flawlessly manicured gardens surrounding magical villas, are real, and you can see them “live” now. Cypress lined driveways leading up through hills of olive trees are just the beginning of the beauty the Tuscan countryside offers. I myself am so inspired by the sudden arrival of the glorious spring weather that I have begun to powerwalk through the countryside every morning and make myself a little more fit for the approaching summer. My aching legs are testament to the persuasion of this glorious time of year: the pay off for the opportunity to see butterflies cavorting around the emerging poppies.
Seriously though, if you are in Florence during and after the Easter break, you must take a day trip out of the centre. A hike in the hills of Fiesole, a wine tour of Chianti or just a picnic in an olive grove can do wonders for the soul. Escape the renaissance architecture, get back to nature, listen to the birds and fall into a field of daffodils. Ahhh…………..che merraviglia!
May 7th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I never would have know that english was her second language. A great read, beautifully written and so true. Don’t you just love it when the real world reflects the postcard!